Penance
by sudoku
Summary: Christine patched Stephen up as he let himself got attacked as his past mistake caught up with him when he tried to save a girl. Warning: implication of self-harm and self-hatred. "So you let them hit you." He shrugged. "I couldn't find other alternatives to let them vent their pent-up angers."


Not a native speaker and unbetaed so please kindly point out any mistakes  
Warning: Canon typical violence, implication of self-hatred and self-harm, a non consensual kiss, language, bad attempt at translation, mention of religion.

* * *

Christine was finally able to sit down to have a well-deserved break. She earned it after a gruelling five-hour operation. She couldn't complain because a little boy could finally reunite with his family. She was about to sip her chamomile tea when an orange portal blossomed right in the middle of her office. She put down her cup and sighed.

Stephen stumbled through the portal looking disheveled. His face was decorated with a split lip and a few red bruises.

"You look like you've fallen from multiple staircases and got dragged by a lion afterward. Which dimension did you just come from?" A few months ago, Christine thought here was the only dimension existed. Fortunately, or unfortunately, Stephen dropped by with a fresh set of injuries and a tale about the multiverse. When her sister asked her to expand her horizons; she was pretty sure Anna didn't mean literally.

She led him to lie on her cyan couch. _This occurrence had become too regular. Stephen even had his own spot! At least he wouldn't bleed on her couch this time._

"Harlem." The Cloak of Levitation left Stephen's shoulder, turned to look at her sorcerer disapprovingly before leaving doing whatever Cloak did in her spare time.

Christine thought she deserved a raise for putting up with all the weird stuffs by being a friend with him; it was all hypothetical anyway as he never paid her with money to start with. Besides, Stephen couldn't afford her.

She scrunched her forehead as she tried to open _layers_ upon _layers_ of his robe—a nightmare for emergency doctors. Perhaps she should ask him to wear a T-shirt or something baggy so that cloth removal would be much simpler. _That came out wrong_. She was tempted to use a pair of scissors to tear open his robe. _It didn't sound any better_. She doubted he had the money to buy a new set of robes. She needed to ask what the budget for the Master of the New York Sanctum was. Next time—when there were no life-threatening emergencies—which likely meant _never_ for Stephen's case. For a doctor and a sorcerer, he was the worst in taking care of himself; even her seven-year-old nephew who was a little daredevil took better care of himself than Stephen.

"I didn't know there is a dimension called that."

Stephen winced so she must've touched a particular sore spot in both senses of the phrase. He mumbled, "This dimension. Our Harlem."

"Really?! I should see the other guy. Am I right? So what did you do to them this time? Sending them falling for 15 minutes?" She was thankful that Stephen did what he did towards Loki. That guy had caused so many casualties with the Chitauri attack a few years back. "Or sending them to the _Rainbow and Unicorn_ dimension to chill out?" She didn't believe such dimension existed until Stephen brought her there for a picnic. Perhaps there were some perks for friending the idiot.

"No. I let them do it." He examined very closely the ribbon in his right sleeve, which apparently had unraveled after his physical altercation, as if that would answer the questions of the universe. Perhaps it would—it was hard to tell at this stage.

"Come again? Did you knock yourself too hard?" At least she finally managed to remove his robe. It was always easier when Stephen was conscious so he could cooperate. She saw there were a lot of bruises around his chest and back. At least there was none in his abdomen. "I don't think there is any internal bleeding. To be safe, you need a CT-scan or an ultrasound."

"There is no need for that. I made sure they wouldn't cause any serious injuries so I can guarantee there is no internal bleeding. I just need you to treat the bruises in my back as it's hard to reach them. My own hands currently aren't very reliable." He quickly hid his hands under his discarded robe but not quick enough as she noticed they trembled quite violently. At least there was no bruises there.

She breathed deeply. "Fine. I'll disinfect and treat your injuries but you need to tell me everything. How come you let some random people hit you? Did I just stumble into the _Twilight Zone_?"

"The Twilight Zone wasn't a fun place to be. I don't think you'll survive there without any magical skills."

"Seriously?! That zone exists!? Thanks for the vote of confidence. I was referring to the TV show."

"Oh!" At least he had the decency to turn his face pink.

She started to use a clean towel to wipe his face and body. The Cloak dropped bandages into her lap. Sophie then took a few trips to drop a bottle of alcohol, towels, bandages, ice packs, and pain killers on the couch; so that was what The Cloak was up to. It was either gruesome or scary or both that the Cloak knew where the medical supplies were in the hospital.

* * *

Two hours ago, Stephen got a call telling him that a little girl was very sick. She wouldn't wake up from her coma. The surprising thing was she was fine a few days ago. She suddenly collapsed when she was playing Hopscotch with her friends in the playground.

They couldn't afford a proper hospital as her family was not wealthy. A kind doctor in the neighborhood brought her to his friend's private clinic for a CT scan. He didn't find anything that could explain the coma. He even tried different diagnostic methods but he still couldn't find anything. Someone whom Stephen hadn't figured out yet asked the doctor to contact Doctor Stephen Strange at Bleecker Street.

Stephen knocked on their door. The mother opened the door and stared daggers at him. "Are you Doctor Stephen Strange? The neurosurgeon who works in the Metro General six years ago?"

"Yes, Ma'am. Used to work. Can I come in to examine Gabrielle?"

She answered him with a slap. She turned around and yelled. "Diego, José, Miguel, Alejandro, Álvaro. De hecho, es ese gilipollas que se negó a tratar a nuestro padre hace seis años porque no teníamos dinero y cualquier otro médico podía tratar una enfermedad tan simple que incluso el Dr. West podía hacerlo mientras dormía." (_Diego, José, Miguel, Alejandro, Álvaro. He is indeed that asshole doctor who refused to treat our father six years ago because we didn't have any money and any other doctor could treat such a simple sickness that even Dr West could do that in his sleep._)

* * *

"I didn't know you speak Spanish."

"That's your takeaway from my unfinished story?!"

"Ah well, the arrogant Doctor Strange refused to treat a patient. Nothing new." Looking at his hurt expression, she amended, "Used to be arrogant." She patted his arm.

He huffed. "I didn't. I mean I could learn it but I prefer to learn Latin and Sanskrit for my er.. work. I used a spell not dissimilar to Thor's AllSpeak."

"Of course you did. So you just let them hit you!?"

"Yes. I didn't know she has gigantic brothers. The shortest one is at least six feet. After they punched me, two of them pushed me to the ground so they could kick me."

"Why did you let them hit you in the first place? Didn't Hogwart ever teach you _Not in The Face_? How come the Cloak didn't protect you and strangled them?" On second thought, Christine decided the Cloak was scary.

Stephen bis his lower lip. He examined his left sleeve this time. "I suddenly recognized her. Six years ago, she came into my office to ask me to treat her father. When I rejected her, she started to get desperate. She said she would do anything and she meant _anything_ as long as I treat her father. She pulled me and started to kiss me. I often got desperate clients but I never got such an offer. I immediately kicked her out of my office and banned her. My parting remark was even Nick could treat her father in his sleep— I meant it was only a plain case of brain hemorrhage. I know I could phrase it better that time but you know how I was an idiot that time."

"You still are." Christine had heard different tales of how heartless Doctor Strange was. She also had heard stories about the length some people would go through to be able to meet the great doctor. But she never heard of this tale so it was likely Stephen made sure none of his nurses or assistants would tell anyone. Even during the height of his assholery, Stephen still had the decency to protect that woman's reputation. She shook her head. "So you _let_ them hit you."

He shrugged. "I couldn't find other alternatives to let them vent their pent-up angers."

"You could just stop them and explain yourself. You show them how you've changed and heal her daughter."

"I know. I kinda deserved their punches though. I was indeed not a very nice person."

"You should know better than anyone that violence is never the solution. Is this some kind of your twisted penance?"

Stephen exhaled loudly. He looked at the ceiling. "It doesn't matter. Pain doesn't bother me too much anymore. Besides, I used a spell to protect myself so they won't do any lasting damage."

Christine threw a towel at his face which of course was caught by the Cloak. "You could at least put a spell to protect yourself completely and pretended to look hurt. What happened next? Did you save her?"

"Of course. What kind of person do you think I am?"

"A self-sacrificing idiot, a masochist, a poor wizard, a possible leader of a cult, a…"

"You can stop now."

"Fine. But next time at least do as I suggested and protect yourself, OK?"

He chose to look at the wall beside her head.

She really needed to ask Wong's help. Perhaps he would be more successful than her in suggesting the idiot to find a therapist.

* * *

A few minutes later, the brothers realized what they had done. They were horrified. They picked him up and deposited him in their dilapidated sofa. They apologized profusely and asked Stephen to promise not to sue.

"No voy a demandar. Vine aquí para ayudar a Gabrielle." (_I won't sue. I came here to help Gabrielle._)

Miguel seemed to be their spoke person. "¿Seriamente? ¿Después de lo que te hicimos?!" (_Seriously? After what we did to you?!_)

"Stephen!"

"Yes?"

"You don't have to speak the Spanish then translate it to English for me. Just tell the rest in English."

He pinkened again. "Fine."

* * *

"No serious harm. I deserved that for refusing to treat your father. I'm sorry. How is he now?" At least he hoped that their father still lived.

"We found another doctor who wanted to help. He was funded by a CSR program. He is out in the park for a walk now."

He breathed a sigh of relief. "That's great. Can I have a look at Gabrielle now?"

"Are you sure? In your condition now?"

He waved his right shaking hand. "Pain is an old friend." He just noticed that his hands shook more than usual.

They also noticed. Diego ran to the kitchen to get him a glass of water. Luckily, they gave him a straw. He didn't think he could pick the glass up.

"We didn't know about your condition. We should never stoop up so low. Even for someone who was rude to us or even harmed us, we should never repay them with violence. It was even worse for attacking a disabled person." Miguel quickly covered his mouth. "I'm so sorry."

"It's what it's. As I said, no harm done. I can have a look at Gabrielle now."

"She is right there." Jose pointed to the door on the left.

"I don't know if Doctor Langford told you that I'm not a normal doctor. Well, I'm also a _normal_ doctor but I also can do something supernatural."

The brothers' eyes were round like saucers. "Like walking on water, turning water into wine, multiplying loaves and fishes?"

Stephen smiled. "I'm not Jesus if that's what you're asking. I don't do miracles. What I meant is I want to astral project myself so that I could examine Gabrielle more thoroughly."

This time, Camila, Gabrielle's mother, asked, "Like Prue Halliwell in _Charmed_?"

* * *

Christine chuckled. "See, marathoning _Charmed_ with me is beneficial."

Stephen rolled his eyes. "Whatever. Can I continue with my story now?"

* * *

Camila explained what astral projection was to her brothers. They looked super excited and dragged their chairs to surround him.

He felt like he was a main attraction in a circus. He ordered them to remain quiet and not disturbed him no matter what happened.

As soon as he examined the child, he discovered that a parasitic demon had resided in her brain. In order to do chased away the demon, he needed to return to his body so that he was stronger in performing the spells.

He went into the bedroom and ordered them to wait outside. Nobody should step inside until he said so.

As he closed the door behind him, Gabrielle sat up. She looked at him but her eyes were vacant. She waved her right hand to slam him to the wall. The Cloak defied her kinetic force and deposited him back on the floor. She wrapped herself around Gabrielle. The girl screamed as she struggled.

There was a ruckus at the door.

Stephen yelled, "Quiet." To be sure, he put a spell so nobody could get through that door.

He quickly incanted a spell he invented to push the demon out of her body. It was surprisingly small and pink. He bound the demon with the Bands of Cyttorak. He opened a portal to the XlusK dimension where the demon was originally from and pushed it back there. He quickly closed the portal and sealed it to make sure it could never open to this dimension again.

Gabrielle was back to sleep again. Stephen examined her. This time it was a normal sleep. Seeing her brain patterns, she should be awake within five minutes.

He removed the spell to seal the door and let them in. "She should be awake soon. Perhaps somebody could give her a glass of water."

Diego ran to the kitchen.

A minute later, Gabrielle woke up and looked disoriented.

Diego gave the glass with a straw to Camila. She moved forward to hug her daughter. "Welcome back honey. We were so worried." She fed the water to her slowly.

After some cross examination from Camilla, it was clear that Gabrielle didn't remember what happened which was a small mercy.

Stephen and Gabrielle's uncles moved out of the room to allow them some privacy. He explained briefly what happened. They took turn in thanking him profusely and still apologized for hitting him.

"I'm glad I could help. That's the least I can do for my past mistakes. Here is some gift for Gabrielle." He gave Miguel an envelope with $150 in it. "It's not much. You might not know it but I'm not as rich as I used to be especially after my accident. You can use it to buy her some books or toys or whatever the kid needs."

Miguel pushed the envelope back to his hand. "We should be the one paying you but we can't afford it. Do you accept pay by instalment?"

"Making sure she is healthy is payment enough. You also can give my money to your father to show my apology." He pushed the envelope back to Miguel. "Otherwise I could never face myself in the future."

Miguel received with his hesitation. "Thank you, Doctor Strange."

"You can call me Stephen."

"Stephen, you're welcome anytime to this house. We may not be rich but we always have food and shelter for those who need it. You can come alone or bring some special friends to have breakfast or lunch or dinner with us. Anytime. Even everyday."

Stephen nearly choked up at the offer. "Thank you for your kindness. I now must take my leave. You know where to find me."

He went to find an empty staircase and opened a portal straight to Christine's office.

* * *

"Stephen, that $150 is your payment for performing at Clarice's birthday party."

He grimaced. "Thank you for reminding me about how I got my money. They need the money more than me."

"Yeah, tell that to Wong. I'm done with your bruises." In fact she had finished her task for a while but she was too absorbed in his story.

He was about to wrap himself up again in his multi-layered robe (she wondered why he didn't dress himself using magic but she knew the reason was most likely because of his injuries and he had too low reserve in magic after what he had done), but she stopped him. "I haven't iced the bruises."

"There's no need. I need to get back to work."

"Stephen Vincent Strange! Come back and lie down or I'll ask the Cloak to wrap you like a burrito."

The Cloak actually listened to her and started to wrap herself around him and put him back down on the couch.

He grumbled. "I thought you were my friends." The Cloak wouldn't let go so he just sighed and nodded. "Fine, I won't leave until you finish treating me." The Cloak unwrapped herself but floated above him to make sure he wouldn't flee.

Christine smiled. "I'm so proud of you." She kissed him in the forehead. "When are you going to bring me to free lunch at Gabriele's house?"

It was Stephen's turn to throw a pillow at her.

* * *

**Notes:**

-Not a Spanish speaker. I made sure the translation is correct by translating from English to Spanish and translated it back to English to see if the meaning changes. If I got any of them wrong, please let me know.  
-I don't mean to stereotype Harlem or Spanish speakers. Stephen rejected a lot of people who could be of any races and from anywhere for this story.

-In Doctor Strange comics (because we don't have many in MCU yet), all his villains are demons or supernatural creatures. He was never confronted by people from his past. Hence the idea for this fic.


End file.
